Police responding to a robbery report at a home in the 3300 block of N. 38th St. last winter found an owner who seemed surprised to see them. The man said he has been burgled, not robbed.
The man was lying. He had been robbed, and his sons, aged 8 and 12, had been taped, tasered, and hurt.
The eight-year-old, according to the documents, “told Officer Brooks that after he, his brother, and his father arrived at home that night, an unknown number of black males wearing masks and armed with guns had entered the home, duct-taped all of their hands, feet and mouths, and removed money from his father’s wallet before fleeing from the residence.”
The 8-yearold stated that his father began to physically fight with one of the intruders in the living room. The 8-year-old further stated that he and his brother were knocked to the ground, and that one of the intruders placed duct tape around his and his brother’s ankles, wrists and mouths. The 8-year-old told Detective Ward that one of the intruders placed a pistol along his face and asked “Can you feel this?” The 8-year-old stated that he heard several of the intruders yelling at his father and demanding to know where the money and the “weed” was located. The 8-year-old also stated that one of the intruders poured hot water on his back and demanded to know where the money was hidden. The 8-year-old said the hot water was painful and he began to cry. Before leaving the residence, one of the intruders told the 8-year-old “Next we’re going to 68th Street. We know where your mother lives.”
The robbers got away with a package of pot about the size of a football, a Play Station 3, an Xbox 360, and at least $100.
The 12-year-old, more attuned to the realities and risks of the situation than his younger brother, at first supported his Dad and said the house had been burglarized, but eventually said his brother was telling the truth.
The 12-year-old stated that the intruders duct-taped their hands, feet and mouths, and began yelling at his father and demanding to know where the drugs and money were hidden in the house. The 12-year-old told Detective Ward that the intruders used an electric “stun gun” type weapon on his buttocks and genitals, and on the buttocks and genitalia of his brother and his father.
The home’s owner eventually gave police permission to search the house. They found some marijuana and, in a cooking pot, $27,950. The man was arrested. He told police the money was from Social Security payments and his snow-plowing business. He said he had marijuana for personal use, but did not know anything about a large package of pot. He admitted to the home invasion and said he had been tasered, but said the thieves were after the money from his plowing business and from his Social Security check.
He said he has a total of five children.
He said he and his girlfriend have a total of four vehicles He said he makes good money plowing snow.
The man eventually pleaded guilty to felony possession of marijuana, second offense. He had previously been convicted in in federal court in Illinois of conspiracy to possess controlled substances. He was sentenced in December 1999 to 70 months in federal prison and 5 years supervised release. At the time of his arrest on December 14, 2007, he was still on supervised release.
In June, he was sentenced in Milwaukee County Circuit Court to a year of probation.
The feds filed a forfeiture action alleging the $27,950 found in the cooking pot was drug money. The feds also sought to revoke the man’s supervised release, but he did not show for the revocation hearing. US District Judge Rudolph T. Randa issued an arrest warrant last month.
In the state case, the man was ordered “to cooperate with child protective services or any other agency concerning his two sons stated in the complaint.”
Anyone think those kids will be all right?
